Bangladesh cricket has come a long way since its introduction to international cricket. For any emerging side, test cricket is the ultimate frontier that they dream of conquering. On this day Bangladesh scripted history by winning their first-ever test match. In early 2005 Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh for a test and ODI series. The tour started with the first test in Chattogram which Bangladesh eventually won by 226 runs.
First innings
Habibul Bashar, the Bangladesh skipper, won the toss and opted to bat first. Openers Javed Omar and Nafees Iqbal provided a firm start to the innings with a 91-run partnership for the first wicket. Elton Chigumbura broke the partnership by dismissing Javed Omar to give Zimbabwe a respite. Soon Nafees Iqbal also had to go back to the pavilion but captain Habibul Bashar stood strong and guided the first innings to 488 runs with crucial contributions from a few other batters including Rajin Saleh who scored 89 runs.
Zimbabwe could not get off to an authoritative start in the run chase as they lost a couple of wickets even before they could post 50 runs on the board. The fall of wickets continued and the visitors were reduced to 5/86. Brendan Taylor and Tatenda Taibu stitched a partnership to keep Zimbabwe in the contest. After Taylor’s dismissal, Elton Chigumbura assisted his skipper in progressing the innings to reduce the quantum of the lead that inevitably conceded to Bangladesh. Zimbabwe ended up with 312 in the first innings.
Second Innings
Bangladesh had an edge at the end of the first innings and they extended the lead with a further 204 runs added to the lead that they already had. Habibul Bashar scored a half-century in the second innings as well which helped Bangladesh go beyond the 200-run mark. The hosts put on 381 runs as the target for Zimbabwe which proved to be too much for the chasing side. Slow left-arm orthodox Enamul Haque Jr picked up 6 wickets to put Zimbabwe under pressure resulting in the visitors succumbing. Bangladesh bowled Zimbabwe out for 154 runs and registered a historic maiden test victory.